Award-Winning English Language Arts Tutors
serving San Diego, CA

Hello! My name is Aleks and I am a MSEd student at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. I am originally from the Northwest side of Chicago, and grew up attending public schools and Polish Catholic school on the weekends. I graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and a Minor in European Studies and am very interested in international relations, research, and education policy. Most of my experience stems from mentorship and teaching roles in formal and informal learning spaces, providing college access, reading, math, and writing support to students K-12 as well as adult learners. As a student teacher, I am constantly exploring new teaching strategies and have particularly found a lot of joy working with bilingual and multilingual learners! My background as a native Polish speaker and first generation student has informed my path to supporting learners in building confidence in their rich linguistic repertoires.

I am a certified teacher of both math and Chinese. I have taught everything from elementary to high school math, and from beginning to AP Mandarin Chinese. I have been teaching in public schools for more than ten years, so I know what students struggle with and where some of their biggest academic hurdles can be found. I am here to help! I like to break down knowledge and information into easy steps, in order to make it easier for students to solve their problems. By working together on everything from fundamentals to test preparation, you will soon know what to learn and memorize in order to feel prepared, regardless of subject!

I am a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I received my Bachelor's of Science in Chemical Engineering. I am driven by an implacable urge to learn, explore, communicate and share knowledge with others. I now work as a high school biology and chemistry teacher at different levels with several years of experience : College Preparatory, Honors, and AP. I (primarily) tutor quantitative subjects : especially math, biology, and chemistry. I am also available to tutor SAT, ACT, and AP standardized testing material. Recreationally, I enjoy figure skating, running, and practicing yoga.

I hold a B.A. from Yale University and an M.A. from the University of Connecticut. In addition to teaching at both the high school and college levels, I also spent many years working in advertising (where I was a Vice President at two New York City agencies), health insurance administration, and as a newspaper editor. I have published a novel, have my own blog, and over 125 personal commentaries in both newspapers and on education websites.

With over a decade of experience as a student and a personal understanding of learning challenges, I'm passionate about helping students succeed on their own terms. As someone with ADHD, I understand firsthand how to navigate the complexities of focus and time management, and I incorporate strategies that work for neurodivergent learners. This experience allows me to connect with students who face similar challenges, providing them with practical tools and encouragement to excel. I earned my Juris Doctor and LL.M in Entertainment, Art, and Sports Law from the University of Miami School of Law, and my Bachelor's degree in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University. While I tutor a variety of subjects, I specialize in English, History, and Law, and I particularly enjoy helping students sharpen their writing and critical thinking skills.

Through personalized, engaging instruction tailored to each student's unique journey, I am committed to inspiring learners reach their full potential.

I am a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame, IN, where I earned my doctoral degree in contemporary American poetry. Before that I earned my masters in English at Wake Forest University, NC. I am passionate about poetry, writing, and the English language, and dedicated to helping others understand and achieve competence in the writing process. I have taught college-level composition courses, as well as a poetry course, and have tutored at Wake Forest University's writing center for two years, and therefore have experience in coaching students at different skill levels through many stages of the writing process, including formulating arguments, brainstorming ideas, handling grammatical issues, finding sources for research, and revising essays. I continue to enjoy meeting students where they are and walking with them through the learning process. We are all students of language; I find a deep satisfaction in enabling others to become great students.

I am uplifted by the opportunity to teach others based on my experience. I hope to provide all of my students with knowledge, guidance, and inspiration.

I am a graduate of Brigham Young University where I majored in International Relations and Russian and of Thunderbird School of Global Management where I earned an MBA in International Business. My college and graduate studies include coursework in Writing, Literature, Geography, History, Political Science, Russian, Music, Business, Math, Science, and Art. Because of my experience with many different disciplines, I am able to teach a wide variety of subjects and have experience working with students of all ages from middle school to middle aged. My greatest skill as a tutor is the ability to adapt challenging material to the viewpoint of my students. This allows me to build bridges of understanding that help more analytical people feel at home in creative disciplines or vice versa. If you are a gifted artist struggling with Math, or an aspiring scientist struggling with creative writing, I'm your man! I am also a very experienced writer and editor. In my free time I enjoy hiking, literature, ultimate Frisbee, international travel, soccer, baking, music, strategy games, and philosophical discussions. I have lived in Africa, Western Europe, and Russia and visited over a dozen countries. Please note that due to the many different subjects I have studied, the list of classes above is not complete. If you have tutoring needs for a very specific subject, I may well have taken a course in that area. Feel free to reach out with questions!

I am a sophomore at Rutgers University who loves to learn and teach! Some of my hobbies are classical music singing and watching sports such as soccer and football.

I love literature and reading and writing -- they've been central to my life since early childhood -- and I hope as a tutor not only to help students improve their skills in these areas but to instill in them a similar kind of lifelong affection for these pursuits. I believe that reading and writing are key not only to enjoying a broadly fulfilling and exciting life but also to performing effectively in virtually any kind of serious job. As a kid, my dream was to become a writer of fiction -- novels and stories -- and I majored in English and creative writing in college. But then it was literature that led my life to take a different, unexpected path. At Princeton, I had to write a senior thesis, and the topic I chose was native American prose literature -- novels, poems and other writings that hugely enhanced the love of nature and wilderness that I had already acquired through hiking and camping trips with my father. Instead of wanting to write fiction, I became an environmental advocate, and wanted to write about wilderness and environmental issues. So, I moved from the East Coast to Montana for graduate school, where I studied wilderness and wildlife management issues and earned a Master's degree in natural resource conservation. For decades ever since I have made my living primarily as a communicator, through writing as well as public speaking. Every job I've had depended on my ability to write well, from working as an editor of technical research papers for the US Forest Service; as communications director for an environmental protection group; as a press secretary in a Presidential campaign; as an international publicist for a PR firm in New York City; as an aide in the Montana Governor's Office; and as a self-employed lobbyist and campaign manager for numerous large corporations and small nonprofit groups. I also taught public and media relations at Carroll College in Montana and have done a fair amount of freelance writing along the way, with essays published in diverse outlets including Western Wildlands, the Journal of Soil & Water Conservation, Range magazine and Playboy. My love of reading and literature has never ceased. I am always reading at least one good book at a time, and I still write almost daily. On the side, I recently have edited two books for publication and have written several grant proposals. I look forward to sharing my passion for learning with students through the Varsity Tutors program.

I have always been a highly ambitious student and strive to learn in everything I do. In high school I became enthralled with my ACT exams, embracing the challenge and being reinvigorated with each improvement I could make; over the course of a year, I self-studied from a 21 to a 34 and even had fun doing it! With that score I was able to attend Columbia University where I received two BAs: one in Archaeology and the other in Classics with a focus on Latin. In each step of my educational journey, I have been interested in accessibility and have been passionate about spreading information as widely as I can. I am now pursuing an MA at Columbia's Teacher's College in Anthropology and Education, specializing in the experiences of Neurodivergent learners.